Urban Governance
India’s urbanisation is progressing at an unprecedented pace, with the number of statutory towns growing significantly in recent years.
An error in the government portal has meant denial of roof for more than 2,000-odd residents of 13 villages, eligible for houses under Bangla Awas Plus scheme in East Burdwan.
The villages fall under the Lowapur-Krishnarampur panchayat of Galsi-I block. The panchayat pradhan has forwarded an appeal to the state panchayat and rural development minister Pradip Majumdar seeking his intervention. The minister has currently been holding physical inspections in the villages and he’d visited the Galsi-I block too, early this week.
The minister said today, “This was a result of a computer error during a survey in 2018 and after it’s brought to my notice, I’ve already ordered for a detailed survey of the villages.”
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The 13 villages have a total population of 4,976 and of them 2,044 persons were eligible for Awas Plus houses. Of them, 174 were tribal and 383 were from the minority segment. Majority of eligible beneficiaries reside in villages like Betalbon, Lowapur and Sodepur.
The pradhan, Lowapur-Krishnarampur panchayat, Miraj Mondal, said, “These are very poor and marginal people, who hardly can afford a concrete roof. Repeatedly, we’ve been pursuing it with the local administration but there has been no effective outcome since 2019.” Local BDO Galsi-I, Joyprakash Mondal said, “Yes, it’s a server error and these are yet to be rectified.”
In neighbouring Galsi-II, some eligible beneficiaries under two panchayats – Paraj and Sirorai, also were left out due to a technical error, officials said.
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